Amorim: Man Utd will think ´new Alex Ferguson has arrived´ if Sporting beat Man City

Ruben Amorim joked Manchester United fans will think he is the next Alex Ferguson if Sporting CP manage to beat Manchester City in the Champions League.

The head coach has agreed to join the Red Devils and will take charge from November 11 after signing a contract with the club until the end of the 2026-27 season.

Before then, he has two games left in charge of Sporting, starting with their Champions League match against Pep Guardiola’s men on Tuesday.

Sporting have made a perfect start to the Primeira Liga, winning all 10 of their games, and have made an unbeaten start in Europe, but Amorim is prepared to come under more scrutiny while on the touchline against City.

“Winning tomorrow would be brilliant. Would I be a hero at Manchester United before I land? I don’t think about that, my focus is on winning the game for Sporting,” Amorim told a press conference.

“The inferences that people will draw from this game are not important to me because they can be misleading. If the result was very negative, expectations will be lowered, and I don’t think that is a bad starting point when I start at United.

“If we win tomorrow, they will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived and that will be very difficult to maintain. What interests me is to win tomorrow, to have a farewell at Alvalade, then win in Braga and then start in Manchester.

“It can increase or decrease expectations. I don’t know what is better. I want to leave the fans and the players happy and confident and qualify the team for the play-offs.”

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— Sporting CP (@SportingCP) November 4, 2024

Sporting won their first European meeting with City in March 2012 in the Europa League, but are winless in their last three against them (D1 L2).

However, they are unbeaten in their first three Champions League games so far this season, and if they avoid defeat on Tuesday, they will equal their longest-ever unbeaten run in the competition (four between September 1982 and March 1983).

The 39-year-old boasts the best win ratio of any Sporting coach on record in the Primeira Liga, winning 120 of his 156 such games in charge (76.92%), but captain Morten Hjulmand said the team are ready to prove they do not need Amorim, who agreed with the sentiment.

“Yes, [Sporting is prepared for his departure]. You heard Hjulmand say that they no longer need the coach,” he added.

“They are very mature; they understand the game very well. They are prepared, it won’t make any difference in the end.

“There is a change, of course, but the team is prepared and has enough maturity to move forward.”